Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Increases Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 36.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,809 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,120 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $18,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 44,853.3% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 6,728 shares in the last quarter. Lee Financial Co bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total value of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,935,302.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com raised Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group raised Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $312.00 to $402.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.94.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SHW opened at $309.38 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $328.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $297.00. The firm has a market cap of $78.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.15. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $221.76 and a 52 week high of $348.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.23 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.72% and a net margin of 10.36%. Sherwin-Williams’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Sherwin-Williams Profile

The Sherwin-Williams Company engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coating, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. It operates through three segments: Paint Stores Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group.